List of historical secret police organizations

This is a list of historical secret police organizations. In most cases they are no longer current because the regime that ran them was overthrown or changed, or they changed their names. Few still exist under the same name as legitimate police forces.

Agencies by country

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Angola

Argentina

  • Sección Especial de Represión al Comunismo (SERC) (Special Section for the Repression of Communism)
  • División de Información Política Antidemocrática (DIPA) (Political Anti-democratic Information Division)

Austria

  • Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police), active in the Austrian Empire

Bolivia

  • Servicio Especial de Seguridad (SES) (Special Security Service)

Brazil

  • Departamento de Operações Internas-Centro de Operações de Defesa Interna (DOI-CODI) (Internal Operations Department-Centre for Internal Defence Operations), active during the military dictatorship (1964–1985)

Bulgaria

  • Komitet za dǎržavna sigurnost (CDS) (The Committee for State Security), most commonly referred to as the State Security, or DS, active in the People's Republic of Bulgaria

Cambodia

Cameroon

  • Centre National d'Étude et de Recherche (National Centre for Study and Research)

Central African Republic

Chad

  • Direction de la Documentation et de la Sécurité (DDS) (Directorate of Documentation and Security)

Chile

China

Colombia

Congo, People's Republic of

  • General Directorate for State Security (French: Direction Générale de la Sécurité de l'État)[1]

Croatia, Independent State of

  • Ravnateljstvo za javni red i sigurnost (RAVSIGUR) (Directorate for Public Order and Security) / Glavno ravnateljstvo za javni red i sigurnost (GRAVSIGUR) (General Directorate for Public Order and Security)
  • Ustaška nadzorna služba (UNS) (Ustaše Surveillance Service)

Cuba

Czechoslovakia

Dominican Republic

Egypt

Finland

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

  • Cuerpo de Detectives (Detectives Corp)[4]
  • Policía Judicial (Judicial Police)
  • Policía Militar Ambulate (PMA) (Mobile Military Police)
  • Guardia de Hacienda (Palace Guard)
  • Centro de Servicios Especiales de la Presidencia (Centre for Special Presidential Services)

Haiti

Honduras

  • Departamento Nacional de Investigaciones (DNI) (National Investigation Department)

Hong Kong

Hungary

Indonesia

  • Komando Pemulihan Keamanan dan Ketertiban (Kopkamtib) (Security and Order Restoration Command), active during the regime of Suharto

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

  • Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

Italy

Japan

Mexico

  • Dirección Federal de Seguridad (DFS) (Federal Security Directorate)
  • División de Investigaciones para la Prevención de la Delincuencia (DIPD) (Investigation Division for the Prevention of Delinquency)

Mongolia

Mozambique

  • National Service of Popular Security (SNASP)[6]

Nicaragua

  • Dirección General de Seguridad del Estado (DGSE) (Directorate-General of State Security)
  • Ministerio de Seguridad Interior (MSI) (Ministry of Internal Security)

Nigeria

Ottoman Empire

  • Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa (Special Organization)

Paraguay

  • Pyraguës (Between 1814 and 1840, nicknamed Hairy Feet by civilians)
  • División Técnica de Represión del Comunismo (Technical Division for the Repression of Communism), active during the El Stronato period, the single-party military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner[citation needed]
  • Departamento de Investigaciones de la Policía (DIPC) (Police Investigations Department), active during the El Stronato period, the single-party military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner

Peru

  • Seguridad del Estado (State Security)

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Republic of China (Taiwan)

Roman Empire

Romania

Russian monarchy

Rwanda

  • Service Central de Renseignements (SCR) (Central Information Service)

El Salvador

Singapore

  • Special Branch

Somalia

  • National Security Service, active in the Somali Democratic Republic[7]
  • Hangash (Military Intelligence Unit), active in the Somali Democratic Republic
  • Victory Pioneers (Neighbourhood watch), active in the Somali Democratic Republic
  • Dhabar Jabinta (Division of military police), active in the Somali Democratic Republic
  • Red Berets (Presidential bodyguards), active in the Somali Democratic Republic

South Africa

Soviet Union

Spain

Uganda

  • Public Safety Unit
  • State Research Bureau

United States of America

Uruguay

  • Organismo Coordinador de Actividades Anti-Subversivas (Anti-Subversive Activities Co-ordination Organization)

Venezuela

South Vietnam

  • Social and Political Research Service (So Nghien Cuu Xa Hoi Chinh Tri) (during the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem)[10]

Yugoslavia

Zaire

  • Centre Nationale de Documentation (CND) (National Documentation Center) – 1969-early 1980s
  • Agence Nationale de Documentation (AND) (National Documentation Agency) – Early 1980s – August 1990
  • Service National d'Intelligence et de Protection (SNIP) (National Service for Intelligence and Protection) (August 1990 – May 1997)[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ John F. Clark and Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo, Fourth Edition (2012), page 134.
  2. ^ Novo, Andrew (2019). "Birth of the Cold War: irregular warfare first blood in Greece". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 30 (1): 31–61. doi:10.1080/09592318.2018.1554338. S2CID 150452858.
  3. ^ Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2015). "Rebel Governance During the Greek Civil War, 1942–1949". Rebel Governance in Civil War. Cambridge University Press. pp. 119–137. ISBN 978-1-107-10222-4.
  4. ^ Nyrop, Richard F. (ed.). Guatemala: A Country Study (1983), p. 202
  5. ^ Abbott, Elizabeth (1988). Haiti: An insider's history of the rise and fall of the Duvaliers. Simon & Schuster. p. 116 ISBN 0-671-68620-8
  6. ^ "Mozambique: Six Months After Independence" Archived 2007-12-17 at the Wayback Machine AliciaPatterson.org. Accessed on May 29, 2008.
  7. ^ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+so0125)[dead link]
  8. ^ "Army Spied on 18,000 Civilians in 2‐Year Operation". The New York Times. 1971-01-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  9. ^ Gibbons, William Conrad, The U.S. Government and the Vietnam War: Executive and Legislative Roles and Relationships, Part IV: July 1965-January 1968 (Princeton Legacy Library), p. 854.
  10. ^ Smith, Harvey Henry, Area Handbook for South Vietnam: Volume 550, Issue 55, p. 220 (1967). U.S. Government Printing Office
  11. ^ Glickson, Roger C.; Sinai, Joshua (1994). "The Intelligence Apparatus and Security Forces". In Meditz, Sandra W.; Merrill, Tim (eds.). Zaire: a country study (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p. 319. ISBN 0-8444-0795-X. OCLC 30666705.
  • v
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Secret police agencies in the Eastern Bloc
Soviet UnionAlbaniaBulgaria
  • Committee for State Security (DS)
CzechoslovakiaEast GermanyHungaryPoland
  • Ministry of Public Security (UB/MBP)
  • Security Service (SB)
RomaniaYugoslavia